Dhoom 2

Why on earth, you wonder, is the Queen (of England, presumably) travelling through the middle of desolate desert in Namibia, in a train, carrying the crown with her? But then you also quickly realize that Sanjay Gadhvi?s Dhoom 2, is not the kind of film where you could ask for or get anything rational.

If, for instance, you ask, how come ?A? the master thief ( whose strength lies in the fact that nobody has seen him), parachutes on to the said train, without the help of a plane and a pilot without someone having seen him? Actually the Queen?s guards do see him, and if the Interpol were really concerned they?d find ?A? in no time. But you have already accepted that you will ask no questions.

This is a Bollywood film, and so two Mumbai ACPs and a sub Inspector will be given the job of nabbing this international burglar, all by themselves. Even when they are running round in Brazil, no local cops are to be seen!

Dhoom 2 has more style and panache than Dhoom, which was very enjoyable, even without all the high tech stuff. It really is more fun watching a mobike gang vrrom off with bank loot, that seeing a tech savvy crook stealing a diamond with a remote control device. Still, the gadgetry is impressive, and even more so is the thief played by Hrithik Roshan, looking great and moving with panther-like grace. He makes everybody else look like they have two left feet, and too much bronze make-up-- yes, even Aishwarya Rai pales before his lustre, if that is possible.

Abhishek Bachchan as the stern Jai Dixit and Uday Chopra as the chatty Ali Akbar continue from Dhoom, and if better plots and more exciting villains can be found, this franchise can go on for a while, like, say Lethal Weapon. Hrithik Roshan came after John Abraham, what can they do for an encore now? Anyway, too early to worry about that.

The star of Dhoom 2 is undoubtedly Hrithik Roshan, even in a film that is so good-looking, and so polished, it gleams like Ali?s eyes when he first sees a Rio de Janerio beach full of bikini babes-- so many ?items? in one place. And of course there?s Bipasha Basu in bikinis, looking perfectly at ease amongst all those toned ?items.? Pity her luscious cop in the first half is done away with and replaced by a bimbette twin who actually falls for Ali.

Jai plants a thief Sunehri (Rai) to entice ?A? or Aryan, and she succeeds in turning the supercool thief into drooling mush. It means that the ice-maiden-ish Aishwarya has to bare a lot of skin, and even smooch her co-star. All the Tom and Jerry, cop-robber chases over action set pieces from Mumbai to Rio end in a kind of anti-climax in Fiji, which also paves the way for Dhoom 3.

Dhoom 2 is sheer, unapologetic entertainment, and a lot of effort has gone into making a crowd-pleaser, but the easy humour and effervescence of Dhoom could not be replicated. Since so much of the directorial and technical input has gone into the action and dance numbers, you don?t really get close to any of the characters. A little less ostentation and a little more attention to plot and characterisation, would have made a world of difference to Dhoom 2. But if this is a link in the chain of a future franchise, then it?s fine, they can keep improving as they go along, and drop the dependence on Hollywood ideas too.